Red On Marketing Blog

How Does B2B Inbound Marketing Ensure Sales Results? (It Doesn't)

Recently an overseas company got in touch seeking comprehensive services. In the course of exchanging information, I got a nice direct question about something that's usually an elephant in the room during sales:

Q: I see you work on retainer. I see you charge $5,500 per month. How do you ensure sales results, especially since your fee is not tied to results?

A: I don't ensure sales results. I drive lead generation.

My team's expertise is in helping business to business companies attract potential clients using a specialized marketing method. Through close collaboration with clients on B2B lead generation and inbound marketing campaigns, my team and I have helped produce roughly $275M in sales opportunities for clients.

If needed, our work extends to Sales. For example, we prepare sales proposal templates, sales presentations, supporting case studies, and lead handling processes.

Q: What is a sales opportunity?

A: An active discussion with a highly qualified lead. Meaning the prospective client has budget to hire our client; has authority to hire our client; needs product/service our client can provide; needs product/service within 18 months; and will discuss needs with our client.

What you do

We rely on the client to call prospects who express interest in services and appear minimally qualified, lead sales presentations, determine the price and scope of work to propose, negotiate/answer questions during the sales process, and close.

Fees and scope

Yes, our fees do start at $5,500/month. Some clients are at $7,900/mo, some at $10,500/month, or at other levels. The fee depends on scope of work and pace. By pace I mean how aggressive our goal is re lead generation.

Other hairy (and very good) questions

I got criticism the other day from a guy I met on LinkedIn. He says I'm making a mistake by posting pricing on my LinkedIn profile and website. I'll tackle that topic in a post after I'm back from Europe :-)).

Additional resources

The New Rules of Outsourcing B2B Marketing - What Marketing Directors Need in a B2B Marketing Consultant Today (ebook)

Six Marketing Gotchas CEOs Can Avoid - How to sidestep some common mistakes of CEO-led decisions about marketing (ebook)

3 Fierce Questions to Ask a B2B Marketing Consultant... Before Hiring (article at this blog)

5 B2B marketing agency requirements (article at this blog)

Still Cold Calling? Debate Will Look At Its Usefulness

Interrupting prospects won't likely put them in a buying mood, but people still do it

Last year a guy from Stockton cold called me to pitch me on his cold calling skills. He could drum up new business for me, pronto. Here's how things went:

• Me: I'm not seeking new business.
• Him: But more leads wouldn't hurt, right?
• Me: They do if you have more requests for services than time to provide them.
• Him: Oh really. How do you manage that?
• Me: There's alot of info at our website. I don't cold call because it interrupts people.
• Him: Oh, I'm interrupting you?
• Me: Yes. You are irritating a decision maker by interrupting them.
• Him: I totally understand. I'll call back.

--

Sometimes I am blind to the fact that there are pros who still rely on an outbound-only approach. On Wednesday you'll have a chance to hear both sides of the issue as Google+ hosts a debate on the topic of "Does Cold Calling Still Work?"

To me, cold calling is "interruption marketing." Someone has purchased or scraped a list, calls out of the blue, and starts the sales pitch. That doesn't put me in the mood to buy whatever the caller is selling. In fact, it's a real downer for him if he gets me on the line. And yet, some folks say cold-calling produces some of the highest-quality leads (albeit at a remarkable cost in dollars and brand equity).

The debate will discuss whether inbound marketing tactics such as search engine optimization are more effective than outbound marketing tactics. On the debate panel are Mike Volpe, Chief Marketing Officer at HubSpot; Kenneth Krogue, President and co-founder of InsideSales.com; and Anneke Seley, CEO at Reality Works Group. Derek Singleton, managing editor of B2B Marketing Mentor, will moderate. The debate will begin at 11am Pacific (1 pm Central) Time. To watch online and ask your own questions, visit the Singleton's Google+ page.

Bets?

B2B Sales Skill - Is a Passing Grade Good Enough for Your Marketing Consultants?

I worry every time I meet with a potential client that B2B marketing won't move the needle because of a gulf between Sales and Marketing. Here's what I do about it.

Have you ever found that B2B marketing tools developed in coordination with Sales -- and tested with the target audience -- are never really embraced by Sales? I sure have. And what a collosal waste of time, money, and opportunity.

So I was psyched when a company came and asked us to address that. Looking to minimize the divide, a client asked us to look into its current sales process. The client’s overall goal was to empower its growing sales team to close more and larger deals while saving time on sales communications with individual prospects.

Our approach began by making the marketing message an integral part of the company’s B2B sales tools and practices. Having an approved sales message:

• Enabled new sales staff to ramp up and generate revenue more quickly. 
• Ensured that the marketing messaging and the direct sales communications were in harmony. 
• Guaranteed that content a prospect would find on the company website dovetailed with what the individual salesperson said. 
• Ensured that each sales representative hit the same key points. 

Next we talked one-on-one with the senior sales staff, asking about their current approach and needs. We collaborated with sales to build additional tools, including: 

• Guidelines for the sales process 
• Checklists for discussions with prospects 
• Tips on assembling collateral for follow-up 
• Email attachments designed to fit in with specific types of communication 
• A new sales elevator statement 
• Templates the sales team could customize, including content for slides, text for emails, text for sales letters, and a cold-call script 

Sales tools generate results in the field

A month later, the sales staff was using all of the marketing tools and sales templates in the field. And, they were:

• Selling the entire solution
• Getting less resistance on price, and
• Hearing fewer references to the competition 

In the meantime, on the marketing front, we overhauled the company website, developed customer success stories, generated media coverage, and more in order to help drive qualified leads and provide proof points that the sales team can use during the sales cycle. 

A brighter outlook

There have been other benefits. Because of the complexity of the company’s offerings, it used to take an average of four weeks for new sales reps to start making coherent cold calls, and two months before they could deliver a compelling sales presentation. And even veteran reps took about one workweek to send follow up communications after a sales call or meeting. 

Now, with the B2B sales tools in hand, a new sales rep can:

• Be phone-ready in three days
• Make cold calls after only a week
• Lead a sales presentation after only two weeks.
• Generate professional, customized communications in 10 minutes or less -- whether it’s a first contact or a follow-up

Do follow Technorati guidelines; Don't expect business blog indexing

Technorati criteria are good guidelines for what to post for your audience; Just don't expect to get indexed there

The web site Technorati collects "interesting original content from across the English-language blogosphere." That basically means blogs. The site goes into some detail about what it does and doesn't look for. How does your company's blog stack up? How does ours?

Technorati wants:

• Original content
• New articles posted at least monthly

Among the things it doesn't want:

• Intensive use of others' content, even with permission or attribution
• Excessive commercial intent (i.e.: the sole purpose is to sell something)
• Repetitive content, where new posts are simply restatements of old posts

No matter what business your company is in, the Technorati criteria are good guidelines for what to post for your audience.* Sure, you can link to other sites as a jumping-off point (just as we are doing here). The key is to at least add something of your own.

Examples

When we manage B2B blogs for our clients, we don't just cut and paste content from elsewhere. We constantly ask them (would they say "nag"?) to actively participate. They can describe their processes and activities. They can give their opinions. If they've upgraded equipment or a process, they can explain why and how it will help them run the business better (example 1).

We urge them to add a personal touch and use the blog to introduce key people (example 2) who aren't often seen outside the office or factory.

The best blog posts of all are the ones that give the audience valuable information. Maybe the company published a whitepaper. The content of a whitepaper is way too much information for a blog, but it's perfectly fine to blog about the fact that the whitepaper is available (example 3), and to hit the highlights. Then you have a chance to connect with the audience at a deeper level by inviting them to download the full text.

We also work with clients to produce webinars, where they can give an online audience the benefit of the company's expertise. That could be:

• How to get the most use out of a product, or
• How to troubleshoot the systems where the product is used

The blog announces the webinar (example 4), and the audience makes the deeper connection when they register.

Upshot

Blogs are hungry, ungrateful beasts. They have to work for you, not just fill space. So take Technorati's tips and strive to make your posts have some real value. But know that us little people probably have a snowball's chance in hell of being indexed there. According to Jill Walker, Rettberg Professor of Digital Culture, "Technorati now states that it only indexes one million blogs. That's a rather small number, when compared to the 110 million they indexed in 2008, or the 180 million indexed by NMincite at the end of 2011. I've not found Technorati a very useful resource in recent years, I'm afraid." In the same thread on Quora, Pat Marcello, SEO and Professional Writer (SEO News Blog) adds, "Technorati has authority blogs listed, which is great if you're looking for authoritative information. If you're just looking to find blogs writing about a certain niche, then I agree with Chris, Google blog search is the way to go."

Want B2B website traffic to move? Stop blowing your horn

Visitors won't get interested in your company until you show interest in them

A lot of companies have a hard time shaking old habits when they start dealing with inbound marketing. After years of telling the world how great the company is, it seems natural to keep pounding that same message online. The trouble is, that's not what your audience is looking for.

Digital Sherpa's Adam Japko offers a good way to think about it: "When you walk into a cocktail party, you don’t go up to people and say, 'Hi, I sell real estate. Do you want to buy a house?' Everybody would avoid you. Instead you start with, 'Hi, you know I just saw a house with this really tricky design challenge and they got this designer who helped fix it in this way.'”

The same idea applies when you invite people to visit your site. They aren't coming there to hear you blow you own horn, they're looking for information. Give them some free tip sheets, white papers and guides. Blog about issues that matter to them (they'll tell you what those are, if you ask). Put on a webinar, and take questions at the end. When they see useful content, they'll keep coming back. If all they see are sales pitches, they'll move on.

In other words, make your site the place to go if people want to keep up with what's going on in your field. That will make you a go-to source. When they do decide to buy, you'll be the first one they turn to.

But as Japko warns, it takes a real commitment to do it right. Even if you are paying someone else to do the research, writing or videography, you still have to be involved. (You can read the full interview at http://ebyline.biz/2012/11/digital-sherpas-adam-japko-on-content-strategies-for-indie-companies/.)

What does your web site offer visitors besides the company talking about how wonderful it is? (And do I walk the talk?)

Chart: Cost per lead in inbound marketing vs. traditional marketing

You've heard that the inbound marketing methodology provides higher return on investment than traditional marketing. How does that play out in a specific campaign?

This made-up example involves many assumptions, but helps show the sorts of differences, nonetheless:

Questions? Objections? (That this example is a straw man for some reason, perhaps??)

How I'm a B2B marketing consultant and sleep at night: 8 principles I live by

After all these years helping business to business companies, I have something to admit: I have a total inferiority complex about being in marketing.

I was all about academic rigor until I entered the business world, and never got over thinking that what I do now is fluffy compared to what I did in academics before. I may come off like a bimbo or a jerk (or -- oiy vey -- both?) when I say I'm a marketing consultant.

And maybe there's good reason: In general, in light of our specialization, we suck at marketing Marketing. Do you know what I mean?

So here's how I sleep at night. Remember Daily Affirmations on SNL? It's kinda like that.

1. Am I practicing trust-based marketing? (Would a reasonable person on the receiving end perceive my client's marketing communications as thoughtful and respectful?)
2. Is the content I am helping to produce genuinely useful? (Would a reasonable person on the receiving end think, "Cool!" and click?)
3. Am I really aligned with Sales on customer acquisition? (Have I really listened to Sales about the most common objections or friction they encounter during the sales process?)
4. Have I helped to systemize marketing communications? (Am I establishing efficient, stress-free processes and sparing my client from "fire drills"?)
5. Am I making recommendations and marketing decisions informed by data -- with a closed-loop measurement system in place? (I admit it - it's hard to always answer "yes" to this one.)
6. Am I regularly assessing whether any marketing dollar, services, or practice needs to be trimmed in order to achieve and sustain a high return on investment? (Am I looking objectively at expenditures and returns?)
7. Can my client track my progress and performance on clear, quantifiable performance indicators, like visit-to-leads conversion rate?
8. Is my client getting more than they're investing? (Am I providing 3, 5, or 10 times more in new business opportunities, than I'm charging?)

Do you have any smidgen of the sort of complex I mentioned above?

Is there another mental test you run to see if you're doing B2B marketing consulting right?

Are there other principles you live by professionally?

Chart: 7 differences between inbound marketing and common practices

There's lots of marketing blah blah out there about how inbound marketing focuses on drawing buyers in with quality content, and building a relationship with them by providing information that helps them.

But what does that mean, like, in the real world?

If you're a CEO, does "do inbound marketing" mean anything to you -- does it help you decide how to invest a few precious minutes in marketing activities?

Just in case your answer is "hell no" let’s put some common practices side by side with best practices to look at the difference:

What priority would you assign to each of the best practices on the left?

Can you tackle some without tackling others?

What'd I miss?

Webinar Marketing Checklist: 13 steps to get attendees & leads

Here is a checklist we made for a client to capture how to combine inbound marketing tactics to get the best attendance and leads from putting on a series of webinars. This checklist complements a Webinar Campaign Countdown Timeline that we'll publish separately.

Tactics to get best value from putting on a webinar

Tailor the following depending on whether you want a very specific or broad audience:

1. Feature a customer if possible.
2. Search optimized landing page.
3. Search optimized press release.
4. Compelling email invitation and reminder.
5. Call by account managers to "most-wanted" attendees.
6. List all webinars on the Events page of the company website. Include "register now" buttons.
7. Run an opt-in mailing list for anyone interested in these type of events. An email goes out every two weeks with all upcoming Webinars.
8. Blog about upcoming Webinars. Profile the speakers, preview the content, and include the 'register today' call to action.
9. Promote the webinar series on your Facebook page. Consider offering something special for anyone who becomes a “fan” -- but take care as this can come across wrong and backfire.
10. Promote through Twitter.
11. Promote within a few LinkedIn groups. Follow each group's rules for such promotional items. Post to each individually with a tie-in to make sure the info is relevant to group members.
12. Brainstorm at least 3 questions. Plant questions in audience if needed.
13. Prepare the webinar follow-up email to go out right after webinar wrap-up; include a value-add or related offer and send to both attendees and no-shows.

NOTE: If possible, create a tracking URL for each marketing channel. That way you can better track where you’re having the most success.

Comments? Question? Chime in.

Put your B2B marketing up on the rack (no shade‐tree mechanics!)

When your car performs poorly these days, you take it to an honest, well‐trained professional to figure out what’s not working, and the quickest, cheapest way to get optimum performance. You don’t just order up a bunch of parts and try putting them in yourself.

If you want to drive me completely batshit, call and tell me this: “We need a payperclick campaign in order to jumpstart leads and sales.”

On second thought, don't.

Seriously, though. Do you have a favorite marketing tactic? Maybe it’s one you tried a few years ago, and you were thrilled with the results. Now that times are tough, you want to try the same tactic again. You may find yourself saying something like:

“We need a pay per click campaign/ telemarketing campaign/ webinar series/ media outreach/ new website design in order to jumpstart leads and sales.”

That’s tactical tunnel vision ‐‐ grabbing at a solution before you have even analyzed the problem. And here’s why it may hurt you more than help you.

Before you even start thinking about marketing, you already have three things going against you:

1. Your time is constrained
2. Your marketing dollars are constrained
3. Marketing has gotten more complicated in the last decade or so

The first two points don’t need explanation. To understand the third, think for a minute about cars.

No more shade‐tree mechanics

When cars had carburetors, anybody could adjust the idle by popping the hood and twisting a screw. If you were ambitious enough and could follow the manual, you could do some fancy repairs like replacing the timing belt.

You wouldn’t dare try that with today’s cars. You know better than to fiddle with a computerized fuel injector the way you might have with a carburetor. In fact, you need an expert mechanic with the right diagnostic equipment just to tell you which part of your car isn’t working right.

But thanks to those same technological improvements, cars today are far safer and perform better today than they did years ago. They last years longer. Overall, your cost of ownership is way lower.

Marketing has evolved the same way. In fact, it has gone further. If your car had improved as much as marketing has, it would have full autopilot, hold thousands of people, fly, and dive under water.

Takeaway

When your car performs poorly these days, you take it to an honest, well‐trained professional to figure out what’s not working, and the quickest, cheapest way to get optimum performance. You don’t just order up a bunch of parts and try putting them in yourself.

When your marketing starts to perform poorly, don’t order a bunch of parts that might make it run better. Take it to a marketing pro who can put it up on the rack and see what’s really wrong. Once you know the answer, maybe you can fix it yourself.